The Statue of the Marmots

According to a legend, at the end of the 15th c., a fisherman lived in Saint-Geniez. His two sons had captured a marmot. During a stormy afternoon, the small animal, frightened, ran away. The two boys dashed off in pursuit of their marmot. Meanwhile a violent storm broke out, drowning the valley in a huge deluge. When the children came back to Saint-Geniez, several houses, including theirs, had been swept away by the current and their father also perished. Their lives had been saved by the flight of the animal. Thereafter they were nicknamed The Marmots and the nickname was applied, by extension, to all the inhabitants of Saint-Geniez.